Subject Areas

Start Date

Course Duration

Course Type

Last Updated

09 October 2017

Course content

Building Services Engineers design strategies and technology that make buildings work for us in today’s fast-paced, ecologically responsible and cost-driven construction industry. It is an exciting, broad-based and challenging profession and the role is evolving and expanding today at an unprecedented rate.

Our Building Services Engineering Programme considers low carbon building design, passive and active strategies for efficiency and wellbeing, and the integration of renewable energy systems into buildings. It deals with services engineering issues, building the multidisciplinary skills required to cope with the challenges in services design and implementation which will be experienced in the working environment. As a conversion course, it provides students with the best foundation for launching or accelerating a career as a Building Services Engineer, or technical sustainability consultant. These are critical roles in interdisciplinary design teams, and as a consequence rank among the highest paid built environment professionals with rapid career advancement opportunities.

The scope of our programme has unprecedented flexibility inbuilt, to allow you to focus on areas of particular interest to you, and your career development, through your individual course choices.

Professional Development and Recognition

The programme meets the professional development needs as specified by the Engineering Council (ECUK) and relevant engineering institutions in the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC).

It allows graduates at either Diploma or MSc level to achieve a qualification equivalent to an MEng which will therefore gain professional recognition by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Energy Institute (EI). The programme does this by providing:

• learning which contributes to the educational requirement for CEng; • design tasks undertaken to an acceptable standard; • development of transferable skills appropriate to professional practice.

Flexible Study Options

This programme can be studied full-time, part-time or via Independent Distance Learning (IDL), ideal for those in employment or with other commitments, providing flexible study options that fit around work or family. As an IDL student you will not be required to attend any lectures, tutorials or other events at any of Heriot-Watt University’s campuses, and you can also arrange to sit examinations in a location close to you.

Those who are close to our Dubai Campus will, in addition, benefit from our local support in the form of dissertation supervision and access to licensed software programmes and subscribed literatures, depending on availability.

Programme Content

Students undertake eight taught courses for the Diploma plus the research dissertation for the MSc. Students can opt to complete a total of four courses and graduate with the Heriot Watt University Postgraduate Certificate.

The taught element of the programme comprises 8 courses, with five core courses and three optional courses out of eight available alternatives:

English language requirements

If English is not the applicant’s first language a minimum of IELTS 6.5 or equivalent is required with all elements passed at 6.0 or above.

Applicants who have previously successfully completed programmes delivered in the medium of English language may be considered and will be required to provide documentary evidence of this. Examples would be secondary school education or undergraduate degree programme. A minimum of at least one year of full time study (or equivalent) in the medium of English language will be required.

We offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement prior to starting your masters programme, please visit: http://www.hw.ac.uk/study/english.htm